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Our Genealogy Helper

Introduction ...

We have a couple of goals for our Gazetteer:

  • That it be a tool which helps us with planning our trips.
  • We're trying to shape our Gazetteer as a tool to help us understand the community in which our ancestors lived, the community that was part of their daily lives.
  • On our trips, we try to visit those places where our ancestors left their footprints.

By learning about Refuge (and the surrounding area) during the time that our ancestors lived, we hope to have a better understanding of both their community and its relationship to their lifes. We hope that this tool helps to give us an insight into their world.

As we add data and organize our Gazetteer to help with our family research, we will be adding to this our Genealogical Helper for Refuge. While we don't have information that is specific to any given person or family, we intend to expand our understanding about where and how people lived.

Neighboring Counties ...

When searching for family records, we have frequently made the mistake of not checking the neighboring counties.

For example, we have great-grandparents who lived in the southeast corner of their home county. During their lives, most doctors and hospitals were in the next county to the east. Almost all of the nearby churches and cemeteries were in the county to the south.

So when searching for records, we had our best success by looking in neighboring counties instead of the county in which they lived:  their home county contained property and probate records; the county to the east contained birth and death records; the county to the south contained their burial records. If we hadn't included the neighboring counties, we would have missed many valuable sources of information.

If you're in a similar situation, we hope that the following information helps.

Refuge is located in Houston County.

To see how the shape of Texas' counties have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.

The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Houston County: Anderson, Angelina, Cherokee, Leon, Madison, Trinity & Walker.

Below are the counties that are near Refuge. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Refuge:

  • Houston County     (The home county of Refuge)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Refuge, with the one closest to Refuge listed first.
    • Grapeland
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Belott
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Latexo
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Hickory Creek
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Weches
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Weches. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Weches
      • Weches is located in Houston County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Weches
      • From Refuge to Weches
    • Harrison Town
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Harrison Town have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harrison Town
      • Harrison Town is located in Houston County
    • Crockett
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Crockett have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crockett
      • Crockett is located in Houston County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 6,350 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Crockett <1>
    • Tadmor
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
    • Bluff City ‑ Historic
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bluff City have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bluff City
      • Bluff City is located in Houston County
    • Kennard
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Kennard have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kennard
      • Kennard is located in Houston County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 325 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Kennard <1>
    • Ratcliff
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Halls Bluff Town ‑ Historic
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Halls Bluff Town have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Halls Bluff Town
      • Halls Bluff Town is located in Houston County
    • Fog Town
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Fog Town have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fog Town
      • Fog Town is located in Houston County
  • Anderson County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Refuge, with the one closest to Refuge listed first.
    • Mound City
      (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Mound City. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mound City
      • Mound City is located in Anderson County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Mound City
      • From Refuge to Mound City
    • Salmon
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Slocum
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
    • Alderbranch
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Alderbranch. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alderbranch
      • Alderbranch is located in Anderson County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Alderbranch
      • From Refuge to Alderbranch
    • Elkhart
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Crystal Lake
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
    • Herring
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Herring. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Herring
      • Herring is located in Anderson County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Herring
      • From Refuge to Herring
    • Jarvis
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
    • Kossuth
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Kossuth. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kossuth
      • Kossuth is located in Anderson County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Kossuth
      • From Refuge to Kossuth
    • Cronin
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Cronin. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cronin
      • Cronin is located in Anderson County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Cronin
      • From Refuge to Cronin
    • Deanwright
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Deanwright. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Deanwright
      • Deanwright is located in Anderson County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Deanwright
      • From Refuge to Deanwright
    • Lakeview Assembly
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lakeview Assembly have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lakeview Assembly
      • Lakeview Assembly is located in Anderson County
    • Palestine
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
  • Angelina County
  • Cherokee County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Refuge, with the one closest to Refuge listed first.
    • Weeping Mary
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Maydelle
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Maydelle have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maydelle
      • Maydelle is located in Cherokee County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Maydelle <1>
    • Alto
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Forest
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
    • New Birmingham ‑ Historic
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Rusk
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Wells
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Wells have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wells
      • Wells is located in Cherokee County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 781 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Wells <1>
    • Dialville
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
    • Gallatin
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Turney
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Freestone County
    • Oakwood
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Oakwood have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oakwood
      • Oakwood is located in Freestone County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 514 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Oakwood <1>
  • Leon County
  • Trinity County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Refuge, with the one closest to Refuge listed first.
    • Pennington
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pennington have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pennington
      • Pennington is located in Trinity County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Pennington <1>
    • Center Point ‑ Historic
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Center Point have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Center Point
      • Center Point is located in Trinity County
    • Centralia
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Centralia have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Centralia
      • Centralia is located in Trinity County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Centralia <1>
    • Friday
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)

For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Refuge, see our County-by-County Page for Refuge.

Cemeteries Near Refuge ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Refuge.

This is a new section and is likely to have errors. If you find an error, such as a missing cemetery or we have the wrong name, please let us know. If you know of them, we would also appreciate learning about previous or alternate names.

If you need information about a burial or interment, photos, transcripts, how to contact the cemetery or local authorities, please visit our selection of Genealogy Websites (see below).

If not found below, our Cemetery List for Refuge covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.

The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Refuge, with the one closest to Refuge listed first.

  • Refuge Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Refuge Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Refuge Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • John Denson Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
  • Owens Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Owens Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Owens Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Enon Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Enon Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Enon Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Denson Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Denson Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Denson Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • San Pedro Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the San Pedro Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the San Pedro Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • San Pedro Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the San Pedro Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the San Pedro Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Edens - Madden Massacre Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Edens - Madden Massacre Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Edens - Madden Massacre Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Eleck Turk Grave
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Eleck Turk Grave
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Eleck Turk Grave have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Dunham - Harmon Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Dunham - Harmon Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Dunham - Harmon Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Murdock Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Murdock Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Murdock Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Davidson Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Davidson Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Davidson Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Continue List   (263 more) ...
    • Tyer Cemetery
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Tyer Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Tyer Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Post Oak Cemetery
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Post Oak Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Post Oak Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Johnston Cemetery
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Johnston Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Johnston Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.

Nearby Communities in 1895 ...

We've built the following list with information that came from an Atlas published by Rand McNally in 1895. The Atlas had details such as the population of the community (which appears to have come from the 1890 Census) and whether there was a post office and/or railroad service available. We also indicate if the community no longer exists and is now historic.<4>

While we didn't find Refuge in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Refuge.

These communities are listed based on their distance from Refuge, with the one closest to Refuge listed first.

  • San Pedro
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for San Pedro have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for San Pedro
    • San Pedro is located in Houston County
  • Augusta
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Augusta have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Augusta
    • Augusta is located in Houston County
  • Grapeland
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
  • Belott
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Weches
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Weches. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Weches
    • Weches is located in Houston County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Weches
    • From Refuge to Weches
  • Alderbranch
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Alderbranch. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alderbranch
    • Alderbranch is located in Anderson County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Alderbranch
    • From Refuge to Alderbranch
  • Crockett
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Crockett have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crockett
    • Crockett is located in Houston County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 6,350 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Crockett <1>
  • Elkhart
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
  • Tadmor
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
  • Ratcliff
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
  • Cronin
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Cronin. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cronin
    • Cronin is located in Anderson County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Cronin
    • From Refuge to Cronin
  • Porter Springs
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
  • Continue List   (15 more) ...

We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Refuge. See our List of 1890's Communities around Refuge.

Newspapers Published in Refuge ...

An ongoing effort between the Library of Congress and the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) has resulted in the National Digital Newspaper Program (NDNP).

To share their results, the partnership has created the Chronicling America website. The goal of this partnership is to assemble a database about the current and historic newspapers of the United States. This includes a growing collection of scanned images from selected papers. All of it available to the public on their website.

Using information that we've taken from the Chronicling America website, we've identified 54 newspapers that have been published in the area around Refuge.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Refuge, there are papers which were published within 26 miles [41.8 km]<5>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Refuge.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we first turn to the websites from Cyndi's List, FamilySearch and Genealogy Trails. These websites either offer the information directly or else point to where you can find it. Their information is open to everyone.

To help you get started, the following links will take you to the pages that are relevant to Refuge:

Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Refuge. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.

The official website for State of Texas: https://texas.gov/

Footnotes ...

<1>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<2>An 'estimated' location is one where we have been given GPS coordinates, but are unable to verify the accuracy of those coordinates. That said, we have some confidence that we have placed the marker near the actual location. A typical reason for being unable to verify a location is that it might be on private property or maybe historic and gone without an obvious trace.
<3>The location has been supplied by the Geographic Names Information System - which is maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). While these values should be definitive, we found that accuracy can vary and you should double-check the location if accuracy is required.
<4>We use the term 'Historic' broadly and it generally means that the community no longer exists. However, it can also mean that the community might still exist, but was significantly larger or had a more 'official' existence in the past than it does now. Unfortunately our sources of data have proven to be unreliable. If you can provide us with more specific information about Refuge, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<5>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Refuge) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Refuge. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 31.5012, Longitude: -95.4004    









 

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This page was last modified/updated: 29 Apr 2025